Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 454 Something to Do Tomorrow
Knowing that Professor Agasa's injuries were not serious, only requiring cleaning and stitches, the Beika Police Station and the First Investigation Division of the Criminal Investigation Department, which is in charge of cases at the headquarters, have already come to Professor Agasa to inquire about the situation...

"Didn't dodge? Then how could you have been shot in the buttocks?" Yuan asked in confusion.

Well, Professor Agasa and Inspector Megure were both shot in areas of fat accumulation, so their injuries weren't serious!

"I... well, because Conan called me at that time, so I did turn around," Professor Agasa said awkwardly.

Conan immediately realized that the other party might have ill intentions, but Dr. Agasa had already opened the door, and there was no time to dodge.

"Professor Agasa, do you have any enemies? Although the arrow wound wasn't fatal this time because of its location, the weapon used by the culprit was definitely lethal!" Gen emphasized at this moment.

"Well... I don't think anyone hates me that much," Professor Agasa said helplessly.

"Could it really be because..." Yuan muttered to himself.

Previously, because of the poisoning case of Attorney Kisaki, Gen also went to learn about the earlier attack case on Inspector Megure, and thus knew that "the murderer was suspected of hating Kogoro Mouri".

Just then, Mori and his daughter rushed over—they were already quite familiar with the professor, and Mori now felt that the professor was injured because of him, so of course they had to come and visit.

"Doctor, are you alright?" Mori asked hurriedly as he entered.

"Hmm, don't be nervous, Detective Mouri," Agasa comforted him, lying on the hospital bed.

"Another playing card code was found at the scene? Damn it... that bastard Murakami!" Mori said angrily.

It seems they are now completely convinced that the murderer is the ruthless Murakami Takeshi, who managed to escape during the interrogation.

“If it really is a series of attacks, then the next one in danger is probably ‘10’,” Shiratori said gravely.

The order of K and Q wasn't necessarily certain before, but now with the addition of J, it looks like it's counting down...

“Oh, right, isn’t there a ‘ten’ in the middle of my character ‘black’?” Shiraishi suddenly asked.

Everyone:...

"Isn't that a bit far-fetched?" Shiratori said speechlessly.

"If we count the intersection of a horizontal and a vertical line, then many Chinese characters can be counted as '10'," Conan said, grimacing.

and……

If they actually attacked Shiraishi, everyone would breathe a sigh of relief—it's really hard to imagine what kind of "crossbow god reincarnation" could attack Shiraishi with just a crossbow!

“Speaking of Tou… Touwako! Touwako, the proprietress, might be attacked!” Mori said anxiously.

Xiaolan, who was still worried, suddenly looked distressed and asked, "Toko... is she the proprietress of some place?"

"Toko Nightclub... cough cough, you kids wouldn't understand! Shiro... um, Officer Shiratori, Officer Gen, let's go check on Toko's boss lady, we have to protect her!" Mori said confidently.

Mori had originally wanted to ask Shiraishi to come along, but when he caught a glimpse of Ayako smiling at him out of the corner of his eye, he shuddered and swallowed his words.

"Eh? Well... cough cough, it seems that Miss Towako really does need protection," Gen said confidently.

Shiraishi ignored them, wondering if they were taking the opportunity to slack off—after all, Shiraishi was a "results-oriented" person, and as long as the case was solved, everything was fine.

However, before leaving, Shiraishi called him over alone in the hospital corridor.

“Chief, I’m not going to the Toko Nightclub either. Kuroki would be a better place for that kind of place…” Yuan said quite consciously.

"It's fine whichever of you goes, but... you need to pay close attention to the case. There's something strange about it!" Shiraishi advised.

"Huh?" Yuan was taken aback upon hearing this.

"Whether it's injuring people with crossbows twice or poisoning Attorney Fei, the perpetrator's methods are brutal. However... the motive for killing is not clear. Otherwise, it wouldn't be difficult to poison the crossbows or put a more lethal poison in the chocolate," Shiraishi emphasized.

It appears that the prisoner used a regular crossbow, not a modern composite or mechanical crossbow, otherwise it would not have been unable to penetrate the target's armor.

and……

If you really wanted to poison someone, shouldn't you have used cyanide directly?

Even with such a small dose of organophosphates, though it's urgent, as long as you receive timely treatment, you won't die!
Moreover, just like cyanide has a "bitter almond smell," organophosphate poisons also have a "garlic smell." It's not exactly a coincidence that lawyer Ayari, who frequently handles criminal cases, was able to identify them immediately and induce vomiting.

“You mean… the prisoner didn’t actually want to kill? But…” Yuan trusted the chief completely, but he couldn’t help but want to refute him at this moment.

“I understand what you mean. It’s not that the prisoner ‘didn’t want to kill,’ but rather that he ‘didn’t care much about killing, but didn’t put too much effort into it either,’” Shiraishi said, shaking his head.

Was the use of crossbows and organophosphate poison intended to avoid killing?
of course not!

The prisoner was clearly not a sharpshooter; if he had hit a vital spot, Inspector Megure and Agasa would still have died.

If she brings the chocolate home to eat at Attorney Fei's place, and no one notices, she'll be completely ruined...

Judging from the perpetrator's methods, this was definitely not a matter of "trying to avoid killing," but rather... not necessarily killing!
"In other words, this is definitely not some malicious prank, but rather the perpetrator genuinely intends to kill someone, or several people," Shiraishi then stated his conjecture.

The logic is very simple—because the method of killing was not decisive enough, it was not intended to kill them; because the killing was not avoided as much as possible, the criminal did not care about killing, thus leading to the conclusion that the criminal was probably already prepared to "become a murderer"!

"Chief, do you mean... the culprit is likely not Murakami Takeshi, and the target is not Detective Mori?" Gen then realized what the chief meant.

According to Shiraishi, the perpetrator's real target should be someone whose name contains numbers or is related to numbers, and who knows Kogoro Mouri. The first three people attacked were all "smokescreens" set up to frame Joe Murakami!
“It’s very likely, at least we shouldn’t put most of our energy into Murakami Takeshi… By the way, has Murakami Takeshi been found?” Shiraishi asked.

“No, the Protective Service has also lost contact with him, and the First Investigation Division has already applied for an arrest warrant,” Yuan explained.

Although there is no evidence pointing to Murakami Takeshi yet, he is a parolee who has disappeared and is completely out of the Ministry of Justice's surveillance, so he is a wanted person!
Upon hearing this, Shiraishi nodded slowly, his expression somewhat solemn.

“If the murderer isn’t Murakami Jo, then he is now…” Gen realized what Shiraishi was thinking—if the murderer really was someone else, Murakami Jo would probably have met with misfortune!

“That’s right, so… why don’t you try doing a criminal profile?” Shiraishi deliberately guided him. Yuan’s “absolute empathy” wasn’t just applicable to “interrogation/questioning”; as he “confronted” more and more prisoners in the interrogation room, he became increasingly adept at understanding their psychology, practically a holy grail of criminal psychology.

Although Yuan had no talent for studying the theory of criminal psychology, and couldn't get into the books that Shiraishi lent him, there was a major branch of criminal psychology—criminal profiling.

Simply put, it involves using the information already available to make macroscopic and imprecise inferences, and through psychological model analysis, to "guess" the basic characteristics of the criminal!

Of course, because this is so unprofessional, it is generally prohibited from appearing in the legal arena—that is to say, it cannot be used as evidence, nor can it be used as the basis for investigations.

Otherwise, like in the United States, if you encounter violent crime, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the perpetrator will be profiled as Black...

Therefore, it can only be used as a basis for police officers' private investigations; it cannot be used as evidence, nor can it become the focus of a group's search.

"The culprit used a crossbow twice. Judging from Conan's eyewitness testimony, he was of average male build and didn't seem to care about killing. Since he was still trying to frame someone and create a false impression, he doesn't seem like a 'suicidal' or 'one-for-one' killer. But to create a false impression and not care about involving others, he probably isn't someone who 'values ​​his life'..."

Yuan first summarized the information he had deduced based on the current situation.

After a pause, Yuan continued, "If we were to conduct a criminal profile... the perpetrator is a male, between 35 and 45 years old, of medium build, with a decent income, single and without parents or with little contact with them, recently diagnosed with a terminal illness or experienced a major life event, has self-destructive tendencies, is obsessive and a perfectionist... has no prior criminal record, and is acquainted with Kogoro Mouri..."

Shiraishi nodded noncommittally—criminal profiling is inherently difficult to judge as right or wrong until the criminal is actually caught.

Its foundation is not actually the rule of law, nor does it rely on evidence, but rather on a combination of "big data" and "intuition".

"Yes, focus your investigation on people who are 'related to Kogoro Mouri' and whose names contain the numbers one to ten,' and find out who they have grudges against," Shiraishi instructed finally.

……

After leaving the hospital, Ayako asked Shiraishi, "Are you going to work overtime tomorrow?"

In Ayako's view, although no one has died yet, given the series of violent incidents that involve people she knows, Shiraishi will likely have to work overtime at the police station to handle the situation.

"Not for now, let's see how things go." Shiraishi shook his head.

There's nothing that Shiraishi needs to do right now, unless something happens again tonight.

Then, as if remembering something, Shiraishi said, "However, I may have to meet with Attorney Ayasato tomorrow."

"Who is Attorney Ayari?" Ayako had never met Chihiro Ayari before.

"Do you know Ayari Chihiro, the lawyer at a private law firm?" Shiraishi asked in return. Ayari Chihiro was indeed somewhat famous as a "beautiful lawyer," but she was still young and not as famous as Attorney Ki.

"She seems to be... a young and beautiful lawyer?" Ayako actually knew her.

"Mm." Shiraishi nodded.

Ayako waited a while, and seeing that Shiraishi was focused on turning the car, she took the initiative to ask, "Is it related to any case?"

“I suppose so… When Attorney Kiyoshi was poisoned, Attorney Ayasato was also present,” Shiraishi said.

“I suppose so?” Ayako keenly noticed Shiraishi’s choice of words.

"Well, it's somewhat related, but it's not really related to my meeting with her tomorrow. Tomorrow I mainly want to ask her some personal questions," Shiraishi explained.

Ayako:……

"Very...very private?" Ayako asked tentatively.

"Hmm? If you want to know, it's nothing... It's actually the same as when I sometimes go to see Koizumi-san," Shiraishi said frankly.

Although Ayako wasn't "on this side," she was, after all, the eldest daughter of the Suzuki family, and naturally had some understanding of "supernatural" matters—unlike most ordinary people who either feared them like ghosts or gods or denied them outright.

"So it's the same as 'sometimes' going to see Koizumi-san... Shiraishi-kun, do you often go to see Koizumi-san?" Ayako asked with a smile.

"Huh? It's not that often, is it?" Shiraishi sensed a "dangerous" aura.

Ayako rolled her eyes at him, then quickly realized what he meant and said, "Wait...you mean that beautiful lawyer is also a superpowered person? Did she... in court..."

“She probably wouldn’t dare do that in court. At most, she could boost her own morale and attack the other party’s psychological weaknesses… Besides, she might not have supernatural powers of her own; she might just have some kind of inheritance or control over certain items,” Shiraishi said, shaking his head.

Using special abilities to make oneself calmer, or to "intimidate" a target and prevent the other party from lying, is also possible.

As for using superpowers to perform "mind control" or something, it's obviously impossible—that's a courtroom. Even if there aren't many people present, once a dispute arises, the trial will spread wider and wider, and the impact will become greater and greater. The backlash at that time would be difficult for even a top-notch magician like Koizumi Akako to bear!
Hearing Shiraishi say this, Ayako understood that Shiraishi had come to communicate with her again.

After all, very few people possess supernatural powers. In ancient times, they might have coveted and feared each other, but in modern times, most people would still want to communicate with their kind.

“Okay, then… be careful,” Ayako cautioned.

"Don't worry, they don't eat people, hahaha," Bai Shi said with a laugh—what's there to be careful about? They're not witches from fairy tales.

Ayako:……

……

The night passed, and Mori, along with Shiratori, Genji, and Yamada, spent the entire night at the Towa Nightclub, but no attack occurred.

Early in the morning, Shiraishi also arrived at Ayasato Law Firm—not far from Beika Town, just next door in Beika Town, or even just one street away from Beika Town.

Yesterday, Shiraishi arranged to meet with lawyer Ayari...

"Chief Shiraishi, you're here today not for the case, but because you're interested in this, right?" Aya said, removing her usual veil to reveal her fair and smooth neck... and the full view of her magatama necklace!

Previously, Shiraishi had only seen the magatama pendant, but now he noticed two more rosary-like beads beneath the veil, one on each side of the pendant…

(End of this chapter)